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Buddhism FAQZZ Meaning of Life
Buddhism FAQ0 >> 24.Meaning of Life and the Universe ---- Buddhism FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions About Buddhism) ---- 24. So what is the meaning of life really? 'Ans :' 'Introduction' Views presented here are of personal nature of writer, the reader is free to accept or reject these. Buddhism being an investigative path, follows a scientific method of experimentation and research of the self and its phenomenon, their inter-relations & hidden truths in order to reveal their true nature (beneficial or otherwise) using meditation & its techniques of equanimity while following good morality which one day leads to rapture & attainment of higher states of awareness(samadhi/trance states). The understanding of spirituality can be considered like that of blind men trying to understand an elephant. Udana 6.4. Therefore there exists diversity of views. ---- 'The Theory' Imagine a vastly huge sun (invisible) existing everywhere giving out several rays. And one of the rays is present within a person's brain & spine giving life to that person, as the hidden prime mover. And other people(& creatures) also having it similarly. (The invertebrates having different mechanism). So all living beings are connected to the common source that exists within as well as without. That is why Buddha has refused to accept the existence of individual self(Atma/आत्मा) as separate disconnected entity/soul (the concept of anatta sans. anatmata) but rather, in several places, he has used the word paramattha sans. paramartha(परमार्थ) which means the supreme goal i.e. Nirvana/Moksha/liberation/salvation which implies that the aim is to leave behind the sense of being trapped in body (in higher samadhi state) and to realize the infinite omnipresent divine into which all liberated beings dissolve. ---- 'Discussion' 'Self & Superself' Self : What a person calls one's self is one's mind only. Buddha has called the mind(citta) as luminous. AN1.49-52 Superself : Also in Kevaddha Sutta at end he gives a hint of the final state of Nirvana(moksha) like the infinite sea of divine light (actually infinite , most luminous super-consciousness, free from time(change) & free from worldly features ). As a matter of simplification, it can be understood as God as defined in other religions. It can also be understood as in following examples : 'Some Examples' (1) Different electrical gadgets such as TV,refrigerator,AC, heater, laptop (various creatures) with different features but being run by a common electricity(here Nirvanic state). (2) Client & server computing : Similar to that in computing paradigm, every creature is like a client to the singular server. (3) Intranet Virtual Machine : Every creature appearing distinct & different but only a virtual machine of the singular server computing platform. (4) Virtual reality : The process of meditation, attainment of various samadhi(trance) states and Nirvana can be considered as coming out from the common virtual reality(of world/matrix). A Virtual Reality Headset (similar to mind & body(NamRupa concept)). (5) Claypots made from the same clay. (6) Balloons created by twisting into various shapes. 'Death then Rebirth' Death is only transformation then rebirth as per Buddhism for common creatures. People, animals, insects etc can transform into any later depending upon how good they were to others , in morals, and for their own development(benign meditators). Those who were harmful to others can attain bad states such as animal, ghost, demon or in hell & remain in pain & suffering. Those who do good attain good states i.e. various levels of angels and archangels with pleasant extremely large different lifespans in millions or in billions of years or more but again rebirth after that. Only those who attain 9th samadhi/trance/zen in meditation, attain personality dissolution into the final Nirvana/moksha state, after which there is no rebirth. 'Why different personalities & creatures?' Question arises , if all are like claypots of same clay why they are different? The creatures have different attributes/characteristics(kamma-sanharas sans. karma-sanskar). For example, a non-smoker may hate to smoke but after some repitions one develops the taste for it. Some persons enjoy religion. Some enjoy intellectual work. Some enjoy physical pleasure. Some even enjoy harming others/violence/anger/deceit/jealousy etc. These all actions lead to habits then lead to formations of sanharas/attributes which remain even after death , produce desire & craving and hence bondage to material universe. The less attributes one has of material desires, the more one is divine & illuminated & shining & the more one has , the darker one becomes. 'But why material desires are bad?' There are 2 phenomenon in the universe, good & evil. The good is the Nirvanic state, the divine, the singular, unseen, the holy, which gives life, it is bliss unlimited hence a person attaining it does not need any other different activity to become happy. It appears in various samadhi states of meditation.SN_36.19_Pancakanga_Sutta The evil is based on selfishness, desire of self-preservation and desire to acquire more & more for self in order to attain apparent happiness by indulging into various activities for it, these activities(kamma sans. karma) lead to habits then desires & cravings so attributes & then character(sanharas sans. sanskar) which become bondage to material world. Why bondage, because as soon as a person tries to go higher, these ones rise to his mind create thoughts, emotions, desire & craving leading to that person commit that action then making one remain in indulgence & cloud the divine state hidden within that gives life. 'Good & Evil' For a clarified explanation, we need to take some help from science. At the turn of this millennium around year Y2k, a new knowledge came to the grasp of human understanding. That our material universe is only 4.6% of total and the rest is Dark Energy & Dark Matter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_energy James Peebles has won the nobel prize on this in 2019. Here we can classify all into 2 realms , one pure energy without gravity(Dark Energy 72%) & one with gravity(Dark Matter23%+Real matter4.6%). Fig : Invisible Dark Matter(Black 23%) & visible Real Matter(Yellow 4.6% Galaxies,Stars,planets etc)https://www.universetoday.com/143083/maybe-dark-matter-is-warm-not-cold/ (1) Good :The Nirvanic state can be considered as similar to Dark Energy which is unseen major part , singular, omnipotent, omnipresent, pure bliss & timeless(Nitya/Akal). (2) Evil :The realm of gravity consisting of dark matter & real matter can be considered as the realm of death & rebirth, the realm of change & decay thus of time(aniccha sans. anitya) . Has all various universes in different dimensions visible and invisible containing various worlds(lokas), various galaxies, stars & planets & various life forms visible and invisible. The pleasant worlds are various heavens(sagga sans. swarg) & various upper heavens(Brahmalokas). The unhappy realms are considered as the world of animals, of ghosts(petas sans. preta), violence loving demons(asuras who oppose devas/angels) and various hells. Here all beings are under the cycle of sorrow, disease, misfortune, material pleasure, death & rebirth on & on administered by the personified evil deathlord which Buddha called as Mara(sans Mrityudeva aka Kaamdeva). It also entices beings to fall into traps of evil action so that they remain in cycle of rebirths. To be continued....